ELECTRIC vehicle owners will soon be entitled to half an hour of free parking while charging in Herefordshire council's off-street car parks.

Starting on March 16, drivers of electric or hybrid vehicles that need to plug in and charge will be able to obtain a free 30 minute parking ticket to display in their vehicle.

The scheme applies to council car parks with electric vehicle charging points across the county, including Garrick House, Plough Lane, Shirehall and Venn Close car parks in Hereford, Kington's Mill Street in Kington, St Katherine’s in Ledbury, Etnam Street in Leominster and Red Meadow in Ross-on-Wye

New rapid charging points are also to be installed at Edde Cross Street car park in Ross, St Martin's in Hereford, and Broad Street in Leominster in February.

The council says these will be capable of delivering an 80 per cent charge to a vehicle in 20 minutes, with electricity supplied to the council's charging point network produced from 100 per cent renewable energy.

Councillor John Harrington, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Transport, said: “As part of the council’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, we are delighted to announce this scheme.

"We hope this incentive will encourage those purchasing a new vehicle to consider alternatives to petrol or diesel engines and in doing so reduce the impact that harmful nitrous oxide and particulate matter in our town and city centres can have.”

Herefordshire Council declared a climate emergency last year, and will publish its new Carbon Management Plan in April this year. The document will outline the council’s plan to reduce carbon emissions over the next five years and set an interim target for its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030/31.